Friends are great to have!

A guy I met from an online forum that I belong to gave me some great information on how I can easily adjust my plan and continue with my progress. I'm not sure of his real name but he goes by the name Stack Diesel and for very good reason... He clearly knows his stuff when it comes to bodybuilding and I'm grateful for his advice. I'm going to paste his reply to me after reading of my struggles.

Greg,

I've always found it difficult to consume more than 140-150g of protein a day from whole food. Aside from rare occasions, I've always had to supplement with shakes to get at or over 200g/day.

That being said, and after years of protein guilt and paranoia, I do think protein needs have been exaggerated, even as to hard-training athletes. The "1g/lb. BW" rule of thumb was cooked up by a supplement company back in the early 90's and has since become gospel. I don't dispute that it's best to err on the side of caution and consume too much rather than too little, but the most credible clinical study (in my opinion) done on the protein requirements of athletes, by Dr. Lemon, suggests an intake of 1.6g/kg of BW maintains positive nitrogen balance and supports recovery and growth in hard-training athletes (assuming an otherwise energy-dense and nutritionally adequate diet). A 220lb man weights 100kg and thus would require an intake of 160g protein/day. 40g doesn't seem like a big difference but, for me, seems to be the difference between being able to meet my protein needs with whole food and having to rely on supplements. Again, I do agree that it's best to consume too much rather than too little protein, but just some food for thought.

Also, you are killing your legs 5 days a week. Although it may seem counterintuitive at first, most strength and conditioning coaches advise that sprints be performed on the same day as squats/heavy leg training, to maximize the recovery period between workouts. Walking can be done for active recovery/general physical activity on the rest days, but not to the point/pace of turning it into a full-blown conditioning session. If you are doing your 5x5 on M/W/F, I'd suggest sprints on M and F. Do the sprints after your squat workout, not before. Will this compromise sprint performance somewhat? Of course, but something's gotta give, and when you really start pushing up the weight on the squats, you are going to stall hard and fast if you are not getting adequate recovery between workouts.

-Stack

Great advice that I plan on incorporating into my routine starting with next week's schedule.

Many thanks, Stack!